LIBRARY OF CONGRE^f 

:S.X4..?45 

UNITED STATES OP AMBBICA. 



1 



A 

A 

SERMON, 

PREACHED IN THE 

WEST CHURCH IN BOSTON, JANUARY 2, 1831, 

BEING 

A aUARTER OF A CENTURY 

FROM THE 

SETTLEMENT OF THE PRESENT MINISTER. 



BY CHARLES LOWELL, 

MINISTER or THE WEST CHURCH. 



PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE STANDING C03IMITTEE 
OF THE PARISH. , . 




BOSTON : 
BOSTON PRESS WATER STREET. 



1831. 



V 



For obvious reasons, whilst the author of this sermon has 
complied with the request that it should be printed, he has not 
published it. 



SERMON. 



1 John II. 17. 

THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY. 

A FEW hours only are gone since we entered on a 
new year. Yesterday all was joy and congratula- 
tion. Children hastened to greet their parents with 
the salutations of the season ; and parents, with full, 
but anxious, hearts, responded to the greeting. Kind 
wishes were heard from every quarter. They were 
uttered by the sober and the gay ; — in the careless lan- 
guage of thoughtlessness, and in the earnest language 
of sincerity. The coldest heart was warmed. 

To-day is the christian sabbath. You come hith- 
er to have the subject of yesterday's congratulations 
repeated. — And you will not be disappointed. The 
wish of yesterday, that the new year might be a 
happy one, is the wish of to-day. The language 
that was then uttered by the fire-side, in the streets, 



4 



and on the exchange, may be uttered in the house 
of God. 

But the christian sabbath is a day for serious re- 
collection, and sober thought ; and the wish that was 
heard in the ordinary scenes of life, assumes a graver 
character, and a tone of deeper and more solemn feel- 
ing, when it is breathed in this place. To congrat- 
ulate you merely on the return of a new year, would 
neither become my profession, northe relation Ibearto 
you. It is but one day in seven that is devoted to 
the public service of God, and nothing should min- 
gle with that service which is not promotive of spir- 
itual improvement. It is but one sabbath in the 
year that, in the journey of life, we stand on the 
eminence, on which we now stand, with an opportu- 
nity so favorable for pointing you back to the years 
which have gone by, and forward to those which may 
be yet in store for you. 

The voice of religious congratulation is a mon- 
itory one, and it is in unison, if I mistake not, 
with the sentiments of every reflecting mind. It 
is true that we have arrived at the beginning of 
a new year, — but it is also true that another year 
of life is gone. If a new year has begun its course, 
the days of the old year are numbered and fin- 
ished. Though dead, they yet speak, and, uniting 
their voice with the year that is begun, they teach 
the lesson of the text, — the instability and inconstan- 



5 



cy of earthly things. It is the voice of God. Na- 
ture, with its unnumbered tongues, re-echoes it. Day 
utters it to day, and night to night. The barren 
fields, and leafless trees, repeat it. Everywhere, 
and in everything, it speaks to us. Memory hears it 
in the past, imagination in the future. It is told in 
the knell of the departing year. It is told by the 
yet voiceless year that is to come. 

The world passeth aivay — its state and condition ; 
its manners and customs ; its pomp and beauty ; its' 
enjoyments and business and cares ; — everything that 
employs the desires and projects of its inhabitants. — 
The gay appearances of the world are constantly 
changing. Every day they assume a new form, 
showing us how unstable and deceitful they are, — 
that they are dreams and shadows. 

One generation, active in business, eager after en- 
joyment, displays itself, for a while, on the stage, 
and vanishes. Another succeeds, acts over again the 
same part in the drama of life, and, like the preceding, 
departs, and is no more seen. As we call up the 
visions of the past, what a multitude of unsubstantial, 
shadowy forms, are dimly descried in the long — 
long distance ! — a multitude that no man can number ! 
And such as these shadowy forms appear to us, 
shall we, my hearers, appear to those who come af- 
ter us. They, too, shall call up the vision of the 



6 



past, and we, who are now acting our part on the 
stage of life, shall coine, in that vision, with those 
who have been. We shall come to the domestic cir- 
cle which we have once gladdened, or saddened, by our 
presence. We shall come to the musings of affection, in 
its solitary hour, in sweet or bitter recollection. We 
shall come to the house of God, as the new year comes 
round, and the thoughts go back t6 the years that went 
before. We shall come, as bright examples, shed- 
ding a clear and steady light on the path of duty ; 
or, as awful warnings, casting a gloomy shade upon 
the way we have trod. Yes, my hearers, the time 
is coming when nothing but the memory of our 
characters shall remain of us. The time is coming, 
perhaps, when even that remembrance will be lost, — 
when our memory shall have perished, and, in the 
visions of the past, no eye of affection will seek us 
out, — when w^e shall be undistinguished in the crowd. 
The ivorld passeth aivay. The world itself, when 
all its airy forms are dissipated, will give place to a 
' new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
righteousness.' 

It is to such sentiments, it is to a deep and melan- 
choly feeling of the instability and inconstancy of 
earthly things, and to the contemplation of a world 
where there is no change, that I am led by the in- 
teresting period at which we are now arrived. In- 



7 



teresting to all,~peculiarlj iiiterestiiig to me, for a 
quarter of a century is completed since, in the house 
which occupied the spot on which this church is 
erected, I stood to be invested with the sacred 
office. It would be unbecoming, if it were possible, 
for me to give vent to the feelings which fill my breast 
on this occasion. I would rather, in silence and 
solitude, bow my spirit in humble adoration, and 
unfeigned humility, before God. 

In the freshness of youth, and, as I trust, with a 
sincere purpose of fidelity, I came to this work. 
The freshness of youth is gone, and I may lament, 
though I may not proclaim, how much of good I had 
purposed which I have not done. 

For a series of years from the commencement of 
my ministry, in consequence of the advanced age of 
some of my brethren, and the infirmities of others, a 
large portion of the duty which peculiarly belonged 
to no one, devolved upon m.e. The encroachment 
upon my more appropriate duties was not inconsid- 
erable. But if it brought with it evils, I trust it 
brought with it also some lessons of wisdom and 
experience, which have not been without their use 
to myself, and to you. 

When 1 came here, our churches were at peace. 
Their ministers were of ^ one heart,' if not ' of one 
mind.' The ' root of bitterness,' which has since 



8 



sprung up to trouble us, and which, at a former pe- 
riod, had brought forth its bitter fruits of alienation 
and strife, had not again been planted. All the 
congregational churches in this place united in the 
council, and the ministers of all denominations, I 
have reason to believe, were present at the ordi- 
nation. 

This peace has been disturbed,— a ' wall of parti- 
tion ' has been erected, — christians who were once 
united in spirit, are now divided, — weapons have 
been used which were not spiritual^ — the congre- 
gational church is ' a house divided against itself.' 
Nor is this division confined to congregationalists. I 
know of no denomination into which the spirit of 
disunion has not entered. I have taken no part in 
this controversy. If it has been useful, I have not 
deemed it so. To me, it has seemed to be a dis- 
pute about speculative theology, and not about re- 
ligion, and I have mourned that religion, and not 
theology, has borne the blame of it. In this so- 
ciety, there has been no interruption, — not even 
for a moment, — of the harmony and confidence 
that have subsisted between us. 

It was said, in the obituary of one of my distin- 
guished predecessors, that, ' at his ordination, he 
promised, like a true christian, to take the holy 
scriptures as the only rule of faith and practice ; ' — 



9 



that ' he despised the shackles of creeds and confes- 
sions, and steadfastly refused to teach for doctrines 
the commandments of men ; ' — that ' he was a hearty 
lover of all good men, let their peculiar sentiments 
on some points of doctrine, be ever so different from 
his own.' 

It was the effect of the independent ground he 
had taken, that, of the five churches called to assist 
in his ordination, two did not attend, and a third be- 
ing, from another cause, prevented, the ordination 
was postponed. The two churches which declined 
attendance were the First Church, and the church 
in Brattle Street. In the First Church, how^ever, 
one of the ministers was his sincere and steadfast 
friend, prayed at his funeral, and paid a tribute 
of respect to his memory, in his church, on the 
sabbath after his interment.* 

The two churches that were present, were the 
first church in Cambridge, Mr Appleton, and the 
first church in Hingham, Mr Gay. A large major- 
ity of the second council, — eleven out of fifteen, — se- 
lected entirely from the country, attended, and 
a minister was inducted to this charge who was es- 
teemed in his life, and pronounced at his death, ' as 

* Dr Chauncy. He performed a similar service at the Old South 
Church, on the Lord's day after the funeral of Dr SewalL 

2 



10 



brilliant a genius as this country had ever produced.' 
But, more than all, he Vv as ' a man of real piety and 
true devotion,' as eminent for his christian graces, as 
for his intellectual endowments. He has given this 
church a distinction, of which it may not indeed be 
proud, but in w^iich it may well rejoice. It will 
ever be associated v/ith his name as maintaining: the 
true principles of the reformation. May it never 
forfeit its title to this honorable distinction ! 

The churches which alone attended on the first 
council summoned, were present at the second ; and 
it may be further stated that the ministers of both 
of them took a part in the ordination of the next 
pastor,^ Mr Gay of Hingham offering the prayer 
of ordination, and giving the charge, and Mr Apple- 
ton of Cambridge presenting the 'right hand,' and 
thus welcoming the pastor elect to the fellowship 
of the churches. 

The successor of Mayhew, an eminently wise and 
good man, followed in his steps, and neither brought 
himself, nor his people, under 'the yoke of bondage.' 
He did not enter, indeed, like his great predecessor, 
upon the thorny field of controversy, but, like him, 
he asserted his independence, and inflexibly main- 
tained the sufficiency of the scriptures, and the in- 



* Dr Howard. 



11 



defeasible right of eveiy man to search and judge for 
himself. It was his own language, with respect to 
the duty of a christian minister, that he should ' sub- 
scribe no man's creed, and require no man to sub- 
scribe his.' ' I know not,' he says, ' how to recon- 
cile the conduct of those, who set up other stan- 
dards of orthodoxy, besides the holy scriptures, with 
that superior regard which is due to those sacred 
writings.' * 

It has been my ambition, like those who have 
gone before me in this church, to keep myself free 
from the shackles of human authority; and, to this 
end, I have adopted neither the name, nor the creed, 
of any party. If I had selected any other name 
than that which the first disciples bore, it would 
have been eclectic^— t'akmg from each party what 
seemed to m.e to be truth,— but better than any 
other name, is the name of christian, and better 
than all other creeds, the word of God. This name 
is as definite, and this creed is surely as intelligible, 
as any other. Whilst, however, I would build my 
faith on no man's foundation, in matters of religion, 
I have an entire respect for him who diligently and 
devoutly studies his bible in search of truth ; and 
though he may come to a result different from my 

* Sermon at the Ordination of Mr Thomas Adams, 1791. 



12 



own, if I perceive in him the fruits of holy living, 1 
have no anxiety to convert him to my faith, how 
ever dear it mav be to me. The faith that is best 
for me, may not be best for him. — I am satisfied 
with his faith, if it is productive of good works. I 
remember that the Saviour has said, By their fruits 
ye shall know them ; and that an apostle, too, has 
said, Shoiv me thy faith ivithout thy ivorks, and Iivill 
shoiv thee my faith by my ivorks, 

Twentyfive years ago, I looked forward to this 
period as a long ministry, — a period I had no san- 
guine expectation of reaching ; but how swiftly has 
it gone ! And yet, when I remember through what 
various scenes I have passed, to how many I have 
ministered in health and sickness, in joy and sorrow ; 
how many have received from me the seal of dis- 
cipleship in the ordinance of baptism, — many of 
whom have grown up around me ; — and how often 
I have offered my prayers over the cold remains of 
those whom I respected and loved, it seems as if this 
period of twentyfive years was greatly extended. 
What great and affecting changes have taken place ! 
What vicissitudes have I witnessed in this time ! 
How many do I miss from the places they once 
occupied! — Our fathers, ivhere are they? — Of the 
ministers, of all denominations, who were here at 
the time to which we have looked back, only two 



13 



remain in their churches, and but four are living. In 
the congregational churches but one remains.* 
Every church, but this, has had a new minister in 
this time, and most of them more than one. 

What a fearful void has occurred in this society 
during this period ! Of the forty, who were pro- 
prietors at the settlement of the present minister, 
thirtyone are dead. — In some instances, whole fami- 
lies have disappeared ; — the places which once knew 
them, know them no more. — ^Of the sixtysix who were 
received to communion with the church during the 
ministry of my immediate predecessor, eight or nine 
only are living ; — of the thirtynine who were admit- 
ted in the ministry immediately previous, not one. 
Of the four hundred and thirtyone who have been re- 
ceived within the last twentyfive years, ninetyfive are 
dead.f Four remain in the parish who w^ere bap- 
tized by Dr Mayhew, fortyeight who were baptized 
by Dr Howard, and four who received this rite in 
the year and a half immediately succeeding his death. 
Two, — and probably the only survivors, — who were 
baptized by the first minister of the church, have died 

* Dr Channing, who was settled in 1804. 

t Nine, in addition to those mentioned above, were received to com- 
munion on the day this sermon was preached. The number of communi- 
cants is probably about four hundred. 



14 



the past year, at the ages of eightynine and innety.* 
In the present ministry there are recorded eleven hun- 
dred and fiftyfive baptisms, including eightysix adults ; 
six hundred and nine marriages ; f and the obsequies 
of nine hundred and twentyfive. Of these, four hun- 
dred and eighty had reached the age of twentyone 
years, sixtynine that of seventy years, and six of nine- 
ty years ; — the oldest ninetythree. 

When I contemplate, as I now do, the past and 
the present, I seem as if I were standing, like Aaron, 
' between the dead and the living,' — or rather be- 
tween the inhabitants of the present, and the eter- 
nal w orld. I behold a large congregation, to whom 
I have ministered, both within, and beyond, the 
boundary of time. I tremble whilst I reflect on the 
influence that w hat 1 have done, or left undone, has 
had on the condition of those who have passed the 
boundary, and are dwellers in eternity. I tremble 
whilst I turn to you, and reflect on the influence that 
what I may yet do, or leave undone, may have on 
your final destiny, — on my own. I look forward, 
as I have looked backward, twentyfive years,' — and 

* Harrison Gray, who died in London, Feb. 26thj and Benjamin Hall, 
who died at Watertown, March 12th. 

t The number was 409, April 1818, the time of the minister's removal to 
Cambridge. For a few years pre\'ious, the average number was from 40 
to 50. This event has since subtracted from the number nearly all but 
his own parishioners. 



15 



by whom am I surrounded ? — Where do 1 stand ? — 
OxMisisciENT God ! to whom the future is as the 
past, — it is known only to Thee thine infinite 

MERCY, PREPARE US FOR THY WILL ! 

I remember this day your kindness, your sympa- 
thy, your forbearance and candor. If they have 
not been deserved by the importance and value of 
the services rendered, there has been some claim 
to them from the desire that has been felt to pro- 
mote your welfare. — 1 have been ^ with you without 
fear.' ' 1 have kept back nothing which I deemed 
profitable to you, — but have showed you, and taught 
you publicly, and from house to house.' I have re- 
joiced with you in your joy, and ' in all your afflic- 
tions have been afflicted.' — In a little while, we must 
both appear before God — I, to give an account of how 
I have taught ; — you, of how you have heard.* 

I enter, with you, upon a new year, with good 
purposes. It is my highest ambition to be a faith- 
ful minister of Jesus Christ, and it would be my 
highest earthly reward to know that I had not labor- 
ed in vain. 

We commence this year with uncertain prospects. 
We strive to turn over the page on which its events 
are written, — but it is sealed. W e stretch our ach- 



* Luke viii. 13. 



16 



ing sight into the distance before us, — but it is rain. 
We can descry nothing with certainty. Conjecture 
must supply its place, and how fallacious conjecture 
is, our past experience will teach us. But our times 
are in God's hands, and there we may safely leav e 
them. With devout gratitude for his past mercies, 
and with humble, yet firm, reliance for the future, let 
us enter on this year. 

Most of us have been doomed to know, — and 
some of us on the very threshold of the year, — how 
sad a tale a year can tell. May the admonitions of 
those, who can now only address us in a voice from 
the tomb, reach our hearts w4th an impression w^hich 
shall never be effaced ! May they excite us, by the 
grace of God, to fulfil wdth diligence the duties of 
life, — to give ourselves to God in Christ, — that 
when we, too, shall address others in the silent lan- 
guage of the grave, it may come to them with the 
more effect from the recollection that we had been 
ourselves mindful of the warnings of mortality. 

The world passeth aivay, — and we are passing 
away with it. 

' Life speeds away, 

From point to point, though seeming to stand still. 

The cunning fugitive is swift by stealth : 

Too subtle is the movement to be seen ; 

Yet soon man's hour is up, — and we are gone.' 



APPENDIX. 



The "West Church was formed January 3d, 1737. By an error of the press, 
in the discourse, containing a history of the church, printed in 1821, it is stated 
to have been July, instead of January. The first minister, WilUam Hooper, was 
from Scotland. He was ordained May 18th, 1737, and, ha\ing become an 
episcopaUan, resigned his office in 1746. I am indebted to the kindness of 
William Lincoln, Esq., of "Worcester, for the following extract from the Boston 
Evening Post of Nov. 24th, 1746. ' Wednesday last, the proprietors of Trinity 
Church in this town made choice of the Rev. Mr Wilham Hooper (then settled 
pastor of the church in the West part of the town) for their minister, in the 
room of the Rev. Mr Addington Davenport, deceased. Mr Hooper imme- 
diately accepted the call, and is going home for orders in the Chester man-of- 
war, which we hear is to sail to-day or to-morrow. This event is the more sur- 
prising, as Mr Hooper had never signilied his intention to any of his hearers, 
nor was there the least difTerence between him and them ; and 'tis generally 
thought no minister in the country was ever better respected and supported by 
his people, than Mr Hooper has been.' Mr Hooper died very suddeiily, April 
14th, 1747, much lamented. His wife was a twin sister of Mr John Dennie, 
an eminent merchant, father of Thomas Dennie, Esq. His son, who graduat- 
ed at Hanard College in 1760, was member of Congress from North Carolina, 
and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The second min- 
ister, Jonathan Mayhew, a native of Martha's Vineyard, was ordained June 17, 
1747, and died July 9th, 1766, st. 46. The third minister, Simeon Howard, 
a native of Bridgewater, now W. Bridgewater, was ordained May 6, 1767, and 
died Aug. 13, 1804, set. 71. The present minister, a native of Boston, was or- 
dained Jan. 1, 1806. He was the 58th congregational minister ever settled in 
Boston, and there have been 32 since settled. 

From a correspondence, in 1740, between Dr Colman and Mr Hooper, to 
which my attention has been directed by my friend Mr Palfrey, and which I 
find in MS. in the Historical Society's library, I am led to think that Mr 
Hooper's greater liberality of sentiment than some of his brethren, had an in- 
fluence in determming hun to leave the congregational communion. The let- 
ters on both sides are written in the true spirit of Christianity. That Mr H. 
was not influenced by pecuniary motives in leaving this parish, I think is e\i- 
dent from the following statement, given by Douglas in 1750, by which it ap- 
pears probable that ]Mr Hooper's society stood second in the town in point of 
niunbers and ability ; — certainly in liberality. ' The ability and numbers of the 
several religious societies,' he says, 'may be gathered from a Sunday's contribu- 
tion for charitv to the poor of the town, distressed for want of fire-wood in the 
hard winter, Feb. 1740—1. Dr Cutler (Christ Church) 72Z. 14^. 2d. Mr Price 
(Chapel) 134Z. 10^. Mr Davenport (Trinity) 133Z. 3s. "id. Mr Welsteed'(New 
Brick, now 2d Church) 58?. Mr Hooper 143Z. Mr Foxcroft, (First Church) 9bl. 
French Church 14Z. \\s. M, Anabaptist, 14Z. 2s. Irish Presbyterian (nowFed- 

3 



18 



eral Street Church,) 211. 5s. Mr Checkley (New South) 721. l-2s. Mr Byles (Hol- 
lis Street) iOl. 2s. Dr Colman (Brattle Street) 16-U. 10s. Dr Sewall (Old South) 
lObl. Mr Webb (New North) lObl. Mr Gee (-26. Church) 111. 10s. 5d. 

The Thanksgiving contributions, which commenced in 1809, have amounted 
to about S4i93 ; the collections at the communion, (which are given, after a 
small deduction, to the poor) for twentyfive years, to about S^925. Beside these, 
there have been contributions, at various times, for sutferers at a distance, and 
on three Fast days. Among other collections, about ;sGOO were collected some 
years since, chiefly through the exertions, as I beheve, of Thomas Dennie, Esq., 
for the poor of the town, in consequence of a sermon preached by the pastor, 
and two hundred and thirtytwo dollars more recently, for the poor of the parish, 
by the late benevolent Mr John A. Bacon. A bequest of SoOO, to the poor 
of the society, by Mrs Eliot, was one among the numerous acts of benevolence 
of that excellent lady. Mr Ehot, it may be remembered, gave thirty or forty- 
thousand dollars to valuable public objects. 

The present house of worship was dedicated Nov. 27th, 1806, and cost about 
S52,000. An additional expense of S48o was incurred in 1809, for the sup- 
port of the roof, and a new roof was put on in 1823, at an expense of 34600. 
The cost of the furnace, the same year, was S300; of the new collection of 
psalms and hymns, same year, ST30; of the organ made in England, first 
used Jan. 18th, 1818, SSOCiO ; of the new bell in 1824, (the other havuig been 
broken) weighing 1456 lbs. S560 ; deducting $219, the amount of the old bell, 
weighing 878 lbs. leaves $341. In 1823, a silver pitcher, of the value of $100, 
was presented to the present treasurer, who was chosen in 1812, with tliis 
inscription, ' Presented by the West Boston Society to N. P. Russell, Esq. 
as a memorial of their respect for his assiduous services as treasurer. Boston, 
April 3d, 1823.' The immediate predecessor of Mr Russell, was James 
Prince, Esq., an ardent friend of the parish, who died, deeply regretted, Feb. 
10th, 1821, aged 63. In 182j, through the exertions, chiefly, of Charles G. 
Loring and Wilham H. Ehot, Esqs., the present beautiful pulpit was substi- 
tuted for the former one, at an expense of about $1500. To the latter gen- 
tleman it is owing that our church music, for several years, has been ex- 
celled by none in the city. The inside clock, given by the late John Derby, Esq., 
a man much honored and beloved, and the outside clock, are both noticed in 
the historical sermon printed in 1821. The current expenses of the Society, 
for the support of public worship for twentyfive years, averaging $3000, has 
been $75,000. The tax is at the rate of' eleven cents per week, on $100 
of the valuation. The present number of proprietors is about 150 ; — of families 
about 330. Some are gratified with minute details, and, as far as they are 
proper in a document designed onbj for the parish, they can be given. In re- 
gard to many of the particulars mentioned in this appendix, it may be found 
convenient to have a memorandum of them at hand. It will be gratifying to 
some, to know that the cliildren first baptized in tiie present church, were John, 
son of Mr Andrew Calhoun, and brother of the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, Matilda, daughter of jNlr Ebenezer Eaton, and Jonathan Dix, 
son of Mr Jonathan Goodwin. The first child baptized in the old church was 
Thomas, son of Mr Thomas Winter. The last in that church were the 
children of Deacon Haskell, a child of ^Ir J. Cushing, and of Mr D. Wise. 

Those, from the parish, who have graduated at Harvard College, since 1820, 
when the history of the society was last given, are Francis Cabot Lowell, Charles 
W. Upham, Joseph S. Hubbart, Edward Jackson Lowell, Henry S. Wade, 
WilHam G. Prince, George W. Wells, William P. Matchett, Benjamin 
Brigham, Francis Cunningham, Aug;ustus S. Doane, Charles Phineas 
Foster, John C. Howard, Charles Russell Lowell, Charles Ritchie, Fran- 
cis Caleb Lormg, Charles Tracy Murdoch, John A. Swett^ Andrew RitcMe, 
Samuel B. Babcock. Those now in college are George C. Shattuck, Horace 
Dupee, John S. Perkins, George A. Eaton, Robert T. S. Lowell, John Murdoch, 
and Thomas B. Pope. 



19 



Tlie oldest person m the society, who was baptized here, is Mrs Susanna 
Lapham, whose father, Mr I'homas Fillsbury, was a member during the min- 
istry of Mr Hooper. I'he ancestors of Mrs Derby, and of the children of Dr 
Shattuck, were contemporary with the formation of the society . The father of 
the late Mr Avery, of Mr Jones, of the late Mr Prince, of Mrs Langdon and Mr 
C. Walley, of Mr Eliot, of Miss Jackson, were proprietors in Dr Mayhew's 
ministry. The late Mr B. Vose, an upright, honorable man, whose daughter 
is still with us, was also then a member of the society. Of the proprietors in 
January, 1806, all but one, who are in the city, are with us ; viz. Mr Carnes, 
Mr Gore, Mr Dennie, Mr Jones, Mr Loring, Mr Jonas Coolidge, and Mr C. 
Walley, who was proxy for his father. A list of the proprietors at the time of 
Dr Mayhew's death, I have inserted in the church records. 

The separate publications of the ministers of the church, as far as I know 
them, have been as follows : 

Mr Hooper. ' Christ the Life of true Believers,' a sermon, from Colos. iii. 4. 
1741. ' The Apostles neither Impostors nor Enthusiasts,' a sermon from Acts 
xxvi. 25. 1742. ' Jesus Christ the only Way to the Father,' sermon from John 

xiv. 6. 1742. Sermon at the Funeral of Thomas Greene, Esq. 1763. Dr 

Mayhew. Seven sermons, 'on the Difference between Right and Wrong, &c.' 
1749. Sermon on the 30th of January, 1750. Sermon on the Death of Fred- 
eric Prince of Wales, 1751 . Election Sermon^ 1754. Tvv'o Discourses on the Earth- 
quakes, November 23d, 1755. Two Discourses on the Earthquakes, Dec. 13, 1755. 
Fourteen sermons, ' on Hearing the Word, &c.' 1755. Two Thanksgiving Ser- 
itions, 1758. Two Thanksgiving Discourses on the Reduction of Q,uebec, 
1759. Sermon occasioned by the Great Fire in Boston, March 20th, 1760, 
Two Thanksgiving Discourses on the Reduction of Canada, 1760. Discourse on 
the Death of Chief Justice Sewall, 1760. Thirteen Sermons on Ps. cxix. 59, 
CO. 1760. Discourse on the Death of George II. and Accession ofGeorge HI. 1761. 
Two Sermons on Luke xiii. 24. 1761. Tvv^o Thanksgiving Sermons for Decem- 
ber 9th, 1762. 1763. Eight Sermons to Young Men, with two Thanksgiving 
Sermons, 1763. ' Observations on the Character and Conduct of the Society for 
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts,' 1763. ' Reply to Candid Observations, 
&c.' ' Remarks on an Anonymous Tract, &c.' ' Letter of Reproof to Mr John 
Cleaveland, of Ipswich,' 1764. Dudleian Lecture from 2 Cor. vi. 16. 1765. 
Thanksgiving Discourse on the Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766. Dr How- 
ard. Artillery Election Sermon, 1773. Sermon on the Death of his Wife, 1777. 
Sermon before the Free Masons, 1778. ' Christians ng Cause to be asham.ed of 
their Religion,' a Sermon, 1779. Election Sermon, 1780. Sermon at the Or- 
dination of Thomas Adams, 1791. The present minister. Artillery 

Election Sermon, 1810. Sermon at the State Prison, 1812. Sermon before 
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Piety, and Charity. 1816. 
Sermon after the Execution of H. P. S. Davis, 1817. Sermon before the 
Society for Propagating the Gospel, 1820. Century Sermon, containing a 
History of the West Church, 1821. Sermon at the Ordination of R. M. 
Hodges, 18^1. Sermon at the Ordination of S. Barrett, 1825. ' The Christian 
Spirit,' a Sermon at the ordination of G. W. Wells, 1827. fThe Name of 
Christian the only appropriate Name, for Believers in Christ,' sermon at the 
dedication of 3d congregational church in Cambridge, 1828^ {.The Trinitarian 
Controversy, ' sermon at ordination of D. M. Stearns, 1828.y Union in Senti- 
ment am^ong Christians not essential to Peace,' a sermon at dedication of the 
church in Natick, 1829. ' Theology and not Rengion the Source of Division and 
Strife in the Christian Church,' a sermon at ordination of J. L. Sibley, 1829. 
Sermon at dedication of a church in Milton, 1829. ' The Wisdom and Good- 
ness of God in the Appointment of Men and not Angels to the Christian Min- 
istry,' a sermon at the ordination of D. H. Barlow, Lynn, and of R. F. Wall- 
cut,Beriin, 1830.^ Men accountable only to God for their Religiftus Opinions, ' 
a sermon at the ordination of J. Fessenden, at Deerfield, and W. Barry, Jr. at 



• 20 



Lowell, 1831.) Sermon on Completing a Gluarter of a Certnry of his Ministry, 
1831. Three discourses were published in this country on* the death of Dr 
Mayhew ; viz. by Dr. Chauncy, Mr Gay, and Mr Brown, and an Eclogue to his 
memory, by B.. Church, M. D. The discourses dehvered on the death of Dr 
Howard were not published. 

Dr Majhew (owing, as it is understood, to difference of opinion) was not 
admitted a member of the Boston Association of Congregational Ministers. It 
is customary to apply for admission. Whether Dr IMayhew, from an impres- 
sion he should not be received, did not apply, or applied and was refused, 1 can- 
not say. By qn extract from the records of the association, furnished me by 
my frien.d Mr Young, the present scribe, it appears that, Aug. 9, 17S4, a conmiit- 
tee (Mr "Eckley and Mr Clarke,) appointed at a former meeting, 'to wait 
on Rev. Mr Howard, and know of him whether he wished to join the Association, 
reported that they had attended that service, and the Rev. xMr Howard would 
take the matter into consideration.' It appears, further, that July 4th, 1790, Dr 
Howard signified liis desire to be admitted, and was admitted accordingly, and 
was requested to preach the Thursday Lecture. On this subject, my much re- 
spected friend, Dr Porter, the pastor of my childhood and youth, who was a 
member of the Association in 178J, remarks — ' 1 never heard tliat he (Dr H.) de- 
sired, or was invited, to become a member of the Association, till the time you 
mention, when an exclusive spirit had yielded to liberal principles and feehngs. 
That he did not seek admission at an earlier period, I am persuaded was not 
owing to his want of liberality and allectionate regard to his brethren, but to 
the circumstances in which he found himself placed as successor to Dr Mayhew.'- 

The Association consisted, in 180G, of the ministers of the nine congrega- 
tional churches in Boston, and of the churches in Roxbury, Dorchester, Brook- 
line, Charlestown, and Chelsea. The present minister of one of the nine 
(the Old South) is not a member. It now consists of the ministers of twelve 
congregational churches in Boston, of King's Chapel, of one in Charlestown, 
three in Roxbury, two in Dorchester, one in Brooklme, one in Chelsea, and 
one at Lechmere's Point. They meet twice a month, for mutual intercourse 
» and improvement. The Thursday Lecture is preached by this association. The 
members of the association who have died since Jan. 1, 1800, are Dr West, Dr 
Eckley, ^Mr Emerson, Mr Buckminister, Dr EUot, Mr Abbot, Mr Cary, Dr 
Lathrop,**'Mr Thacher, Mr Huntington, Mr Prentiss of Charlestown, Dr 
Morse of Charlestown, Mr Bradford of Roxbury, and Dr Holley. Eight of 
these were settled before the time above mentioned. 

Though the ministers of the town stood aloof from Dr Mayhew, yet I have 
been told that they did not neglect him in his sickness, and had a day of fasting 
and prayer for his recovery. It is said that Dr Sewall was requested, when he 
visited ^im, to question him on the subject of the trinity, which he was supposed 
to disbelieve, but that he found him in such a happy frame of mind, he forgot 
his errand, or did not think it important to fulfil it. On being asked if he had 
said anything about it, in his interview, he replied, ' Oh, no, no; I beUeve he 
loves the Lord Jesus Christ dearly.' 

At the ordination of Dr Howard, there were three churches from Boston on 
the council, viz. the First Church, the IN'ew South, and Mr S. Mather's. This 
church has been invited, during Dr Howard's and the present muiistry, to attend 
one hundred and twentyseven councils ; forty of them in Dr Howard's ministry, 
and one between the time of his death and 1806. In some other cases, letters 
have not been sent, when it was understood the minister could not attend. 

In order to be received to communion with the church, gipplication is made 
to the minister, and if the minister see no good reason to refuse admission, 
the name of the applicant is enrolled on the records of the church ; and the 
person thus enrolled, is entitled to all the privileges of membership. If the 
minister should withhold his assent, he must submit the case to the church for 
their decision. It is the rule that the names *>f tjie persons admitted shall be 
reported to the church ; but there is a discretionary power, in this particular, 
with the minister. 



0 



S E,R M O N, 



PREACHED IN THE 



WEST CHURCH IN BOSTON, JANUARY 2, 1831, 



A aUARTER OF A CENTURY 



FROM THE 



SETTLEMENT OF THE PRESENT MINISTER. 



BY CHARLES LOWELL, 

MINISTER OF THE WEST CHURCH. 



Pra.N'TJED AT THE REaUEST OF THE STANDING COMMITTEi; 
OF THE PARISH. 




BOSTON: 
BOSTON PRESS WATER STREET. 

1831. 



